Do California employees have a right to a seat at work?
Sometimes. California's wage orders require suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits it. In Kilby v. CVS (2016) the California Supreme Court held the test looks objectively at the actual tasks performed at a given location — and that the employer bears the burden of proving no suitable seat is feasible.
Nearly every California wage order contains a seating provision, and it went largely unenforced for decades. Kilby answered a set of certified questions that had made the provision hard to apply.
The court rejected a holistic, job-title-based reading. The analysis is task-based and location-based: you look at what the employee actually does at a particular workstation, and whether those tasks reasonably permit sitting — not at whether the overall job is a "standing job."
An employer's own preference that staff stand — for appearance, alertness, or customer perception — does not by itself make seating unreasonable. And once the question is raised, it is the employer who must show a suitable seat is not feasible, rather than the employee who must show it is.
The provision reaches further than retail cashiers, which is where it is usually discussed. Any workstation where the physical tasks could be done seated is potentially within it.
Sources
Last reviewed 2026-08-09. Informational only — not legal advice. California rules change; confirm against the current source before acting.